xxxiii. summer's arrival
- silks of heaven, chapter thirty three-
FINALLY, THE SUN WAS out and the weather was warmer. The overall mood was lifted and everything felt lightweight.
Regulus and Jasmine had tried to spend as much time together as they could, since the school year was ending.
"Jasmine," Regulus said.
"Yeah?"
"After we finish school.. what are our plans?" he asked. Jasmine shrugged.
"Oh, I don't know," she said. "Maybe moving in? You move to ours until we can buy a house."
"Surely we can buy a house as soon as possible," Regulus said. "I mean, both our parents have money. And lots of it."
"No."
"Why not?"
Jasmine sighed and turned to him. She put his hands in her lap.
"I'm not going to rely on my parents for everything. And you definitely can't rely on yours either," she said.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Regulus asked, an unhappy tone raising in his voice.
"I'm just saying," she softened her voice. "Your parents aren't exactly the type of people you want to rely on your whole life. They won't supply for you unless you carry on following their rules. Which probably means you'll end up marrying your cousin or something."
"What?"
Regulus' eyes fixed on Jasmine and he definitely did not look amused.
"Oh!" Jasmine realised what she had said. "I didn't mean it like that. I promise."
"I know what you meant," he said. "So why don't we work as soon as we finish school?"
"Work? Doing what?"
"Assist in the Ministry until we can apply for a life-long career," Regulus said. "You want to be an Auror, right? You'll definitely get that job. Top of your classes and assisting at the Ministry!"
"I won't be able to assist at the Ministry," Jasmine drawled. "I'll be working with the Order as soon as I finish school. I won't have any time to assist, Reg.."
Regulus' face fell, "Right. Guess I can just stay with my parents until I get enough money to move us out."
"No, please don't be mad at me! You know I've always wanted to work with the Order! It's not my fault, you would've accepted it too."
"Yeah, I would. I'm not mad at you, Jas," he said. "Just ... I don't know, I hoped I could get out of that Goddamn house as soon as I finished."
Jasmine rubbed her thumb on his hand and brought it up to her face, gently kissing it.
Her heart kind of broke when she heard the hurt in his voice. She wanted nothing more than to move him out of his parents' house.
"I promise I will get us a place," she finally said. "I'll find my savings, apply to be an Auror, get some scraps of money, maybe even get a Muggle job! Just anything to get enough money to get us a place. I promise."
Regulus nodded. "I'll help."
She hugged him tightly and he rested his chin on her shoulder.
***
The next day in classes, Jasmine sat in front of Snape and behind Remus. The whole class was silent, as everyone was studying for their N.E.W.Ts.
Jasmine sighed and flipped over the page. She hated studying, yet she passed most of her tests.
In fifth year, she extremely struggled with studying for her O.W.Ls, yet got close to top grades in all her exams.
Now, she forced herself to study, because luck wasn't always guaranteed.
She looked up at the chalkboard:
Extra help for Potions N.E.W.Ts in this classroom every day at 4:30.
Jasmine read it and debated the pros and cons in her mind while flipping through the pages in the textbook.
In the end, she decided to go.
When she arrived back in the classroom that same day, she was surprised to see Sirius and Marlene there. Professor Slughorn still hadn't arrived.
"Hey," Jasmine said, walking in. "Why on earth are you two here?"
"Needed help," Sirius shot.
"I can tell that," Jasmine grinned. "The two most stupid seventh years."
She flashed a smile at the pair, to assure them that she was joking. Marlene laughed.
"Love you, too, Jazzy."
"Eurgh, don't call me that," Jasmine laughed.
Sirius sat up on one of the tables and got his Potions book out. He pretended to read the information on the pages, but his attention span was too small.
"Jas, how is things with my brother?" he asked her. She blushed.
Don't tell him that you're thinking of moving in together, her mind told her.
"We're thinking of moving in together."
Marlene cracked a laugh, "Aw! You guys really are in love."
Jasmine shrugged, "Yeah ..."
Sirius was taken aback. "Really? You and Regulus ... moving in?"
"Might be," Jasmine said. "It's a small chance, though, we've barely got enough money to do it. See, we don't want to ask our parents—"
"I think it's a great idea," he smiled. "Don't forget to invite me, though."
"Adding that to my list of things not to do," she smiled back. "Anyways, where's Slughorn?"
***
The end of school was nearing and students were finishing their exams. Talk of plans after finishing school was flying around and everyone was either extremely excited or extremely nervous.
As Jasmine began packing up her stuff from her dorm for the last time, she found a picture of her and Regulus from first year.
She stared at her, examining any small detail she could find. He looked moody and unhappy to be with her and she was laughing, her hand around his shoulder.
Oh, how things have changed.
Jasmine folded the photo up neatly and tucked it into her robe pocket, heading down to the Great Hall.
"Two days left of Hogwarts," James was saying to Sirius. "Can you believe it?"
"Yeah," Sirius scoffed. "This last year was the longest of my life."
Jasmine walked over to them and hugged Sirius from behind, startling him.
"Hey, boys," she said. "I'm almost done packing. I nearly cried. I don't want to leave."
"We'll be joining the Order soon," James said. "Next year. So I'm pretty excited."
They walked out of the Great Hall, making their way to Remus and Lily.
"But you still don't want to leave, right?" Jasmine said. "We grew up here."
James nodded, not paying attention since his eyes laid on Lily. He ran up to her and hugged her. Jasmine looked at Sirius and rolled her eyes as he kissed Remus.
If only Regulus was apart of our friend group, she said to herself.
She didn't know whether they cared much about hers and Regulus's relationship anymore. They never asked about it, especially since they found out the two were moving in together.
"Lils, can you help me finish packing?" Jasmine asked.
Lily looked up and nodded, "Of course!"
***
author's note:
i literally have no motivation
to finish this story but i will anyway
for you guys<33